Tension control for thread-dressing machines and the like.



H. J. MARX. v I TENSION CONTROL FOR THREAD DRESSING MACHINES AND THE LIKE.

APPLIOATION FILED D130. 6, 1911. 1,029,878.

Patented June 18, 1912.

e SHEETS-SHEET 1.

COLUMBIA PLANOGhAPH CO.. WASHINGTON. D. c.

H. J. MARX.

. TENSION CONTROL FOR THREAD DRESSING MACHINES AND THE LIKE.

11221401111011 rum) 11130.6, 1911.

1,029,878. Patented June 18, 1912.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

4/ R v w 9 nk mum: Elvwantoz H. J. MARX.

TENSION CONTROL FOR THREAD DRESSING MAGHINE$ AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION IILBD 1130.6, 1911.

Patented June 18, 1912.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

H. J. MARX. TENSION CONTROL FOR THREAD DRESSING MACHINES AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION FILED DEG 6, 1911.

1,029,878, Patented June 18, 1912.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

H. J. MARX. TENSION CONTROL FOR THREAD DRESSING MACHINES AND THE LIKE.

APPLIOATION FILED D30. 6, 1911.

6 SHBETS-SHEET 5.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO.,WASHINGTONI D C.

Patented June 18, 1912.

H. J. MARX.

TENSION CONTROL FOR THREAD DRESSING MAGHINES AND THE LIKE. APPLIOATION FILED DBO. e, 1911.

1,029,878, Patented June 18, 1912.

6 SHEETS-SHEET a.

HENRY J. MARX, OF I-IOLYOKE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN THREAD COMPANY, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

TENSION CONTROL FOR THREAD-DRESSING MACHINES AND THE LIKE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY J. MARX, a citizen of the United States, residing at I-Iolyoke, Hampden county, Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Im provement-s in Tension Control for Thread- Dressing Machines and the Like, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an improved tension control for thread spooling machines, the object of the invention, broadly speaking, being to provide an improved construction whereby the degree of manual care required to watch the machine to keep the proper tension on the various spindles is reduced to a minimum. 1

Under the present practice in thread dressing machines, for example, a large number of threads are passed over a dressing cylinder and are led by suitable guides to a corresponding number of bobbins or spools upon which the thread is wound. It is im portant that the tension of each thread as it leads to its respective spool should be controlled. As is well known, the tendency of a driven spool or bobbin to pull upon the thread during the winding process. varies with the increasing diameter of the spool as layer upon layer of thread is built up thereon. For this reason it has heretofore required the constant attention of an operator to watch the machine and to manually shift the tension devices.

My improvement comprehends means for mechanically or automatically doing this work, thereby relieving the operator of a vast amount of labor and responsibility. 7

I have shown only so much of the thread spooling mechanism such as used on a thread dressing machine as "is necessary to an understanding of my invention, and as to such parts, some minor details have been either abbreviated or omitted.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of certain parts of my invention on a reduced scale. Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of the same, omitting one series of bobbins. Fig. 3 is a plan view of one end of the machine, on a relatively enlarged scale. Fig. 4 is a view of certain parts shown in Fig. 8, looking from left to right, and shown on a relatively reduced scale. Fig. 5 is a section on the line mw (Fig. 4),

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 6, 1911.

Patented June 18, 1912. Serial No. 664,215.

looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 6 is a side elevation, partly in section, on the plane of the line 'yg Fig. 4, looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 7 is a section on the line 2-2, looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 8 is a view of the parts shown in Fig. 7 looking from left to right. Fig. 9 is a view of the parts shown in Fig. 7 looking from rightto left. Figs. 10 and 11' are difit'erent views of the same details of construction.

WVhile I have shown my invention as applied to a spooling mechanism for thread dressing machines, it will be obvious that, broadly speaking, the invention relates more particularly to the tension controlling mechanism.

11 represent driven spools or bobbins upon which the material, in this instance thread, is to be wound. Looking at Fig. 1, the thread T-T approaches the spools 11 from the left. Each spool is mounted on a driving spindle 2, and a multitude of such spindles may be provided for a corresponding number of spools, said spindles being usually mounted in series upon suitable bracket supports 38 which are arranged in steps. In Fig. 1, I have shown two steps and one spindle of each series, although, broadly speaking, it should be understood that the number of driving spindles and brackets are immaterial. The spindles are driven by suitable endless bands 4-4, each of which passes around its own respective series of driven pulleys 55 on the aforesaid spindles, each band being driven from a large drum or roller 6 around which it passes. Associated with each band 4 is a tension regulating device which is a utomatically controlled in the manner hereinafter described. In Fig. 2 I have shown the lead of one of said driving bands 4. A description of a single band lead will be sufficient to a clear understanding of all because they may all correspond.

For the purpose of understanding a band lead, particular reference is made to Figs.

1 and 2. 77 represent tension adjusting pulleys. These pulleys are preferably ad justably mounted. upon brackets 88 which in turn are carried by a swinging arm 9 mounted upon a shaft 10. In Fig. 2 I have shown only a single driving band 4, and it will be seen that this band is so looped as to pass repeatedly around the back of the drum 6 (relatively to the spindles 2), the loops picking up each of the pulleys -'-5 of one set or series of spindles. One loop in said band also leads off to the tension pulley 7 carried by the bracket 8, the position of which is determined by the arm 9 and shaft 10. This lead of a driving band is the usual method heretofore employed. I'Ieretofore, however, for adjustment it has been necessary for the operator to manually shift the position of each tension pulley to vary the tension of the particular band leading therefrom to the particular series of spindles driven thereby. Because the lead of the driving-band is old and well understood, no further description is necessary, since in the present instance, the invention relates to the means for automatically shifting the position of the several tension pulleys 7 7. Itfollows that if any tension pulley 7 is shifted farther away from the drum 6, as viewed in Fig. 2, the tension of its particular band a will be increased; and oppositely, if said pulley 7 is brought nearer to the drum 6, the tension of its hand at will be lessened. Each tension pulley 7 controls the tension of one band for as many of the spindles 2 as it is desired to place in a single series, this being variable,'as desired. At this point it should be stated that there is always a slip, while the machine is working between the band at and the driven spindle pulley or pulleys 5. The tension of the band 4 varies said slip and the variation in slip determines the tension of the lay of thread on the spools.

Now referring particularly to the means for automatically controlling the tension. As before stated, this depends upon the position of the tension pulley or pulleys 7, and this position depends upon the swinging of the arm 9; hence, if the shaft 10 is automatically controlled, it follows that the position of the tension pulleys 7 carried by the arm 9 will be controlled. Where the ma chine employs a plurality of spindles 2 arranged in steps, one back of the other, it will be found that the length of the respec tive driving bands will vary since those spindles which are nearer to the driving drum 2 obviously require less length. Those bands whichare of less length than others run over tension pulleys 77 which are arranged closer to the shaft 10 so that as the arm 9 swings, said tension pulleys for the shorter bands will be moved relatively less than the pulleys for the longer bands, thereby compensating for the difference in the stretch between the longer and shorter bands so as to secure a uniform action on all the spools.

The means for controlling the shaft 10 and swinging arm 9 will now be described. Referring to Fig. 5, 11 is a lever arm mounted on the shaft 10. 12 is a lever arm pivotally mounted at 13 and overlapping the lever 12. 1% is a contact between the overlapping levers 11 and 12, said contact 1% being preferably adjustable, and in this instance being mounted upon the lever 12 so as to engage with the lever 11 at the desired distance from the shaft 10. 15 is a link shaft connected with the lever 12 near one end for imparting movement thereto. In the particular form shown, this link shaft 15 is provided with a right hand thread at one end and a left hand thread at the other end. One of these threads screws into a suitable fixed socket abutment 16, while the other end screws into a suitable socket 17 mounted 011 the lever 12. It follows that as the link shaft 15 is turned in one direction or the other, it will impart a swinging movement to the lever 12 in one direction or the other, and, through the connection of lever 12 with lever 11, it follows that the shaft 10 is controlled for the purpose before mentioned. The means for turning the link shaft 15 comprises, in its preferable form, suitable gears, in this instance a worm wheel 18 fixedly mounted on the link shaft 15, and a coacting worm 19 fixedly mounted on a shaft 20. 21 is a. ratchet wheel connected with the worm 19. This ratchet wheel 21 is controlled and turned at proper times by a suit-able pawl mechanism. The pawl mechanism in this particular instance comprises two pawls 2223 mounted upon the head of an oscillating carrier 241, see Fig. 6.

Referring to Figs. 10 and 11 it will be seen that the oscillating carrier is mounted at its lower end on pivot 25. 26 is an oval opening or recess in the oscillating carrier 2% in which stands a cam or eccentric 27 (Fig. 7). This eccentric is operated in any suitable manner as by a pulley 28 to which it is secured. 'The pulley 28 and cam 27 revolve on shaft 20. 29 is a driving belt for the pulley 28 and eccentric 27, said driving belt being driven from any suitable source of power. 30 is a pulley for reversing the mechanism, the same being fixed on the shaft 20. The rotation of the pulley 28 operates only the cam 27 and causes the pawl carrier tooscillate. The pawl 22 is the pawl uti lized in this particular instance for increasing the tension; that is, for actuating the various intermediate coacting parts between the tension pulleys 7 and said pawl 22 in such a way as to move the tension pulleys 7 away from the driving drum 6. Since the thread builds up on the spools very slowly, it is obvious that there may be momentary periods when it would be desirable to pause in the shifting movement of the tension pulleys 7. At such times, therefore, the pawl 22 should be held out of engagement with the ratchet 21.

The moment or moments of effective operation of the pawls 2223 is governed ends of the shaft 20.

directly by the diameter of the spool of thread as it is being wound, as will now be described. As shown in Fig. 6, 32 is a hold-out device for the pawl 22. This holdout device is mounted upon, or a part of, the upper end of a rocking arm 33. The lower end of this, swinging arm is connected by a link 34 toa lever 35 pivoted at 36 intermediate its length and carrying at its upper end a suitable bracket on which is mounted a trolley or roller 37. The trolley or roller 37 is of substantial length and is cylindrical in form so as to rest for a considerable length on the surface of the layers of thread on the spool 1. As the layers of thread build up on the spool 1, it follows that the trolley 37 will be moved back, swinging the arm 35 and imparting a movement to the hold-out device 32, swinging it to the left (Fig. 6) so that the pawl 22 can engage the ratchet 21 and turn the worm 19 so as to produce, through the medium of the parts previously described, a swinging movement to the tension arm 9 to increase the tension on the several driving bands 4, since, as the spools 2 build up, it is obvious that more tension is required to secure the desired uniform tension of thread.

It is now important to understand why when the hold-out device 32 is shifted by the movement of the trolley 37 it does not continue to stand in a position to permit the pawl 22 to continue to ope-rate the ratchet wheel 21 and steadily increase the tension of the bands 4. This action would result excepting that, as will be seen, the entire mechanism which is mounted concentrically with the shaft 20 moves bodily with the link shaft 15 (see Fig. 3). This bodily movement of said parts is required because it is important to keep the worm 19 in proper cooperative relation with the worm wheel 18, and to that end a suitable sliding frame support for all of the parts thus concentrically mounted is provided. In the drawings two side guide rods 38-38 are provided upon whichsuitable sliding brackets 3939 are mounted, said brackets supporting the The brackets 39-39 are suitably connected by a frame 40 which has yoke ends 41 41 standing on each end of the hub of the worm l8 fixed on the link shaft 15; hence, as the link shaft 15 tends to move in one direction or the other, it will carry, by reason of the aforesaid yoke all of these cont-rolling parts bodily with it. From the foregoing, it follows that although the arm 33 may be temporarily tilted by the action of the trolley wheel 37, nevertheless, as the shaft 20 and aforesaid parts move toward the trolley, it will tend to straighten up the arm 33, thereby swinging the blocking-out device 32 to the left and into the pawl lifting position, thereby holding the pawl 22 out of action until again released by the trolley. This describes, in effect, one cycle of operation, which is repeated at such intervals as required in the building up of the spool of thread.

Now, in regard to the reversing mechanism. When all the spools on the machine are filled, the machine may be reversed in either of two ways. First, it may be reversed by moving the belt 29, through the medium of the belt shifter 42, from the pulley 28 to the reversing pulley 30, which latter, being keyed to the shaft 20, revolves the worm 19 in a direction to restore the parts to their starting position for initial tension. Second, if the operator fails to operate the belt shifter, the reversal will be automatically efiected through the medium of the pawl 23, because, as will be seen, when the trolley 37 moves forward so as to bear upon the spool at its smallest diameter, it will move the blocking-out device 32 away from the pawl 23, allowing the latter to operate. This operation of the pawl 23 will continue until the parts are restored to their original position.

Any suit-able means may be provided to cause the trolley 37 to press with the desired weight against the spool as it is being built up; for example, a counter-weight 43 may be provided for that purpose. On effecting the direct reverse by use of the beltshifter 42, it is, of course, important to lift the driving pawl 22 so as to guarantee that the same will be held out of operative en gagement with the ratchet wheel 21. To do this, I provide a pawl lifting means be tween the belt shifting mechanism and said pawl, said connection being shown in Figs. 7 to 11 inclusive. This pawl lifting means comprises a stem 44 sliding in suitable guide-ways 45 on the oscillating pawl carrier 24. This stem 44 has a shoulder 46, which is engaged by a cam arm 47 carried by the belt shifter, so that when the belt shifter is swung to the reversing position, the cam arm will lift the stem 44 and the driving pawl 22.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the machine, when in operation, will automatically vary the tension in the desired manner, as the spools build up in diameter. If desirable, the contact 14 may be adjusted to give more or less movement to the arm 11 relatively to arm 12 and depending upon the particular conditions which obtain in the use of the machine when different sizes and qualities of thread are employed. I have also provided a convenient cast-off means to check the rotation of the shaft 20 when the parts have been restored to their starting position by the rotation of pulley 30 through belt 29. This cast-0d means comprises a spring latch 50 having a detent or stop shoulder 51. Vlheu the belt shifter 42 is moved to the position wherein it throws the belt 29 onto the pulley 30, the said belt shifter will. be engaged by the detent 51 on the spring 50 so as to hold it in this position against the tension of a spring 52 which is anchored at one end to the frame 10 and is connected at the other end to an arm 53 carried by the sleeve or hub of the belt shifter. The tendency of the spring 52 is to swing the belt shifter in a direction to move the belt 29 onto the pulley 28. The strength of the spring 52 is not sufficient alone to release the belt shifter from the detent 51.

In operation the release of the belt shifter 4-2 is effected by depressing the spring 50 whereupon the spring restores the belt 29 to its position on the pulley 28. This releasing of the belt shifter 42 is effected by causing the spring 50 to hit against a proper fixed abutment upon the frame of the ma chinewhcn thcparts have been reversed and returned to their starting position. By this means the reversal of the parts is checked automatically, thereby saving any danger of breakage of the machine.

Adjustments may be effected in the machine in various ways. For example, either end of the link 3 1 may be adjusted up or down upon the arm 33 or lever 35 so as to give more orlessmovemcnt in the blockingout device relatively to the trolley 37. It is also obvious that the tension pulley 7 may be adjusted upon the bracketsS for the purpose of securing the desired initial tension throughout the machine, any suitable form of clamp or adjusting means being provided whereby the adjustments of said tension pulleys upon said brackets may be effected. As I have already mentioned, the contact point 1-1 between the levers 11 and 12 may be adjusted up and down so as to secure the desired degree of movement of the lever 11 relatively to the lever 12. It is also obvious that the mounting of the contact 14: may be reversed so that said contact will be carried by the lever 11, the mere reversal being too obvious to require illustration.

What I claim is:

1. In a machine of the character described, a spindle for carrying a spool to be wound, a pulley thereon, a driving drum, a tension pulley, a driving band extending from said drum to both of said pulleys, automatic means to move said tension pulley in a direction to increase the tension of said driving band as thread is being wound on the spool, said automatic means including a device resting against the surface of the thread on said spool during the winding process, a swinging arm carrying said tension pulley, a shaft carrying said arm, a lever carried by said shaft, another lever opcratively connected with the first meir tioned lever but independently mounted at one end, means between said second mentioned lever and said trolley for imparting movement to said second mentioned lever, said means including a train of gears, a rotatable link shaft, a support for one end thereof, the other end being operatively connected with said second mentioned lever, one end of said shaft being screw-threaded whereby the rotation of the link shaft will impart movement to said second mentioned lever, one of said gears being mounted on said link shaft, and means for periodically driving said gears.

2. In a machine of the character described, a spindle for carrying a spool to be wound, a pulley thereon, a driving drum, a tension pulley, a driving band extending from said drum to both of said pulleys, automatic means to move said tension pulley in a direction to increase the tension of said driving band as thread is being wound on the spool, said automatic means including a device resting against the surface of the thread on said spool during the winding operation, a swinging arm carrying said tension pulley, a shaft carrying said arm, a lever carried by said shaft, another lever overlapping and operatively connected with the first mentioned lever but independently mounted at one end, means between said second mentioned lever and said trolley for imparting movement to said second menof gears, a rotatable link shaft, a supportfor one end thereof, the other end being operatively connected with said second mentioned lever, one end of said shaft being screw-threaded whereby the rotation of the link shaft will impart movement to said second mentioned lever, a pawl and ratchet mechanism for said train of gears with means for oscillating said pawl mechanism, and means for holding said pawl mechanism out of operative engagement with the ratchet excepting at such times as it is desired to vary the tension of said band.

8. In a machine of the character described, a spindle for carrying a spool to be wound, a pulley thereon, a driving drum, a tension pulley, a driving. band extending from said drum to both of said pulleys, automatic means to move said tension pulley in a direction to increase the tension of said driving band as thread is being wound on the spool, said automatic means including a device resting against the surface of the thread on said spool during the winding process, a swinging arm carrying said tension pulley, a shaft carrying said arm, a lever carried by said shaft, another lever overlapping and operatively connected with the first mentioned lever but independently mounted at one end, means between said second mentioned lever and said trolley for imparting movement to said second mentioned lever, said means including a train of gears, a rotatable link shaft, a support for one end thereof, the other end being operatively connected with said second mentioned lever, one end of said shaft being screwth1;'eaded whereby the rotation of the link shaft will impart movement to said second mentioned lever, a pawl and ratchet mechanism for said train of gears with means for oscillating said pawl mechanism, means for holding said pawl mechanism out of operative engagement with the ratchet excepting at such times as it is desired to automatically vary the tension of said band, and a connection between the device bearing against said spool and said blocking-out means.

4. In a machine of the character described, a rotatable spindle arranged to carry a spool to be wound, a pulley thereon, a driving drum, a movable tension pulley, a driving band leading from said drum to both of said pulleys, automatically operable means arranged between a spool mounted on said pulley during the winding operation and said tension roll to cause a movement of said tension roll in a direc tion to vary the tension of said band periodically as the diameter of said spool varies during the winding operation.

5. In a machine of the character described, a plurality of rotatable spindles, a plurality of spools to be wound, a pulley thereon, a driving drum, a movable tension pulley, a driving band leading from said drum to all of said pulleys by separate loops, automatically operable means arranged between a spool mounted on one of said pulleys during the winding operation and said tension roll to cause a movement of said roll in a direction to vary the tension of said band periodically as the diameter of said spool varies during the winding operation.

6. In a machine of the character described, a plurality of separate series of rotatable spindles arranged to carry a plurality of separate series of spools to be wound, each series of spindles being arranged in steps, one back of the other, a driving drum, a movable tension pulley for each series of spindles, a driving band leading from said drum to all of said pulleys of a series and to its respective tension pulley, said driving bands being of different lengths, a swinging support in common to all of said tension pulleys, the tension pulleys for the shorter bands being located nearer to the axis of said swinging support than the tension pulleys for the longer bands, automatically operable means arranged between one of said spool carrying spindles and said tension pulley support whereby as a spool is being wound and builds up in diameter, said tension pulley carrier will be caused to periodically operate to increase the tension of all of said driving bands to substantially the same degree.

7 In a machine of the character described, a spindle arranged to carry a spool, a pulley thereon, a driving drum, a tension pulley, a movable support for the latter, a driving band passing from said drum to both of said pulleys, means for automatically and periodically moving said tension pulley support to vary the tension of said band, and a device arranged to bear against the thread on a spool as it is being wound for controlling the period of operation of the last mentioned means.

8. In a machine of the character described, a spindle to be driven, a driving drum, a tension pulley, a driving band passing over said drum and both of said pulleys, means for shifting one of said parts to increase or diminish the tension on said band, said means including a ratchet, a forward driving oscillating pawl for periodically op erating said ratchet in one direction to increase said tension, means controllable by a spool on the spindle as it is being wound for controlling the periods of operation of the pawl on the ratchet.

9. In a machine of the character described, a spindle to be driven, a driving drum, a tension pulley, a driving band pass ing over said drum and both of said pulleys, means for shifting one of said parts to increase or diminish the tension on said band, said means including a ratchet, a forward driving oscillating pawl for periodically operating said ratchet in one direction to increase said tension, means controllable by a spool on the spindle as it is being wound for controlling the periods of opera tion of the pawl on the ratchet, and a second oppositely acting movable pawl arranged to co-aot with said ratchet, said spool controlled means also controlling the periods of efiective operation of said last mentioned pawl relatively to said ratchet.

10. In a machine of the character described, a spindle to be driven, a driving drum, atension pulley, a driving band passing over said drum and both of said pulleys, means for shifting one of said parts to increase or diminish the tension on said band, said means including a ratchet, a forward driving oscillating pawl for periodically operating said ratchet in one direction to in crease said tension, means controllable by a spool on the spindle as it is being wound for controlling the periods of operation of the pawl on the ratchet, a second oppositely acting movable pawl arranged to co-act with said ratchet, said spool controlled means also controlling the periods of efiective operation of said last mentioned pawl relatively to said ratchet, and means for driving said ratchet in a reverse direction to that elfected by said pawl.

11'. In a machine of the character described, a spindle to be driven, a driving drum, a tension pulley, a driving band pass ing over said drum and both of said pulleys, means for shifting one of said parts to increase or diminish the tension on said band, said means including a ratchet, a forward driving oscillating pawl for periodically operating said ratchet in one direction to increase said tension, means controllable by a spool on the spindle as it is being wound for controlling the periods of operation of the pawl on the ratchet, a second oppositely acting movable pawl arranged to coact with said ratchet, said spool controlled means also controlling the periods of effective op eration of said last mentioned pawl relatively to said ratchet, means for driving said ratchet in a reverse direction to that effected by said pawl, said means comprising a reversing pawl and one pulley con nected with said reversing pawl for moving the same, and another pulley connected with said ratchet for moving the same, and a driving belt with means to shiftsaid belt from one pulley to the other and vice versa, and means to hold said pawls out of ratchet engagement when said reversal is being effected by said last mentioned pulley.

12. In a machine of the character described, a spindle to be driven, a driving drum, a tension pulley, a driving band passing over said drum and both of said pulleys, means for shifting one of said parts to increase or diminish the tension on said band, said means including a ratchet, a forward driving oscillating pawl for periodically operating said ratchet in one direction to increase said tension, means controllable by a spool on the spindle as it is being wound for controlling the periods of operation of the pawl on the ratchet, a second oppositely acting movable pawl arranged to co-act with said ratchet, said spool controlled means also controlling the "periods of effective operation of said last mentioned pawl rela tively to said ratchet, and two independent means for driving said ratchet in a reverse direction to that effected by said pawl.

HENRY J. MARX.

Witnesses:

Ron'r. K. CLARK, J. L. BUGBEE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of I'atents, Washington, I). G. 

